Grippis. Revisited.

Saturday was AWESOME. I woke up very early to try out a new pair of kicks from VivoBarefoot that sort of remind you of a huarache sandal. My thought was that they wouldn't be too different from Vibrams and I would again have the ugliest running footwear on race day. I was horribly wrong. Not about the ugliness mind you; the split toe rubbed the webbing between my great and index toes so bad I blistered and bled in a mere two miles. The foot bed was amazing, however, so not being one to give up I'm going to see what modifications I can do to stop the rubbing. I'll keep you updated.

After that adventure it was breakfast and coffee with some friends at Green Harvest. Go there.

Saturday was also the day for the second annual stream sweep for the Juniata River. About 50 or so people showed up to walk the river and banks to clean up trash and debris dumped or washed down in the recent storms. There was a lot of debris. At our site, which was one of the cleanest, we carted out two 55 gallon drums, a grill, remnants of a couch from '72, tires, a television, tarps, some unidentified very large inflatable object as well as many, many other items of trash. It's slightly disheartening to see how people treat something that I personally love very much, there have been some awesome kayaking adventures on that river, and the extent to which they disrespect it and those who use it. At one location alone there were two and a half large flatbed trucks worth of junk pulled from the river and that was only a dent in the trash that was back there. We did manage to do some good though, and there are a few less beer cans for our efforts.

After our lunch of burgers and hotdogs we moseyed up to Hebrews Coffee for some very much needed sitting time. The waitress was a girl who I sold spikes to recently at an XC invitational, and it was cool to talk to a happy customer.

Then the real fun started. I got home, loaded up and headed out for Joel's place to work out a few kinks in the new bike. Grippis never fails to deliver. After two very public spills, I got readjusted to the bike (which I hadn't ridden any distance on in months) and was enjoying the Huntingdon mountainside. The trails are so smooth and fast it's easy to loose track of yourself in the woods. Then B stops in the middle of a hill and a rock to the knee brings you back to yourself. A little help from a frozen bag of broccoli is always good though, and I am fine today. Grippis is somewhere I could go every weekend and never get bored with it. I prefer the singletrack there to the technical monstrosity that is Blue Knob. For me, running is my challenge. Upping distances, speed and unruly terrain are things I like to do with my own two legs. Put two wheels and 20 lbs. of steel between those legs and I'm going to die. It's just a matter of what root/rock is going to cause my concussion that turns into a brain bleed that turns into death. Joel and B like that technical stuff with all the rock gardens and logs. No. I only see death at every rock.

The new bike performed very well. I may get some new handle bars and seat, but as far as the bike, brakes and gears go, it's much more than adequate. Contrary to my adventure cohorts, I don't believe in paying more for a bike than I would for a used car. I like to sprinkle my funds across the board a little more. For instance: it's race season! All left over funds are most likely going towards gas and race entry fees. I'm also married! Which means I really won't have much in the way of left over funds! The next large purchase is going to be a paddle board. Although it stripped me of my keys in South Carolina, I will not be deterred! It was fun for all ten minutes I was standing up! Then of course there's the saving for travel which Kel and I will be doing in the coming months, and the fact that I was recently asked to run the Ragnar Relay in Utah next year. Therefore, yes I'm VERY happy with the way my bike is treating me and I'll be happy with it for a long time to come!

Now get out and do something! I'm going to go eat pizza.

Grippiss - how awesome!

The three of us headed off to Allegrippiss on Saturday around 3:30pm. The day started out looking dark and dreary but the sun broke thru well before we even loaded up to go. I could tell just by that it was going to be a good day. Adam took his new hardtail disc brake bike. I think it worked well. Maybe he will blog about it sometime. Seems to me it was worth the money. It will do until he pulls the trigger and spend a few grand on one. So now about the ride. I felt really good. Have been going thru some tough times as far as my workouts and cardio level but today helped me feel good again and got me really excited to get back out there. I had good energy and was happy with that. I will say about 1.5 hrs into my legs were getting tired so I was slowing down on the climbs. Actually on this one small climb I decided to just slow down to an almost stop and take in the scenery around me. It was great. Adam didn't fair well on that climb. He stopped behind me and instead of balancing on his bike, then putting his right foot down, and enjoying the scenery with me, he went crashing over the hill in to stones and some bushes. Not so good for him. His knee swelled a little after we were done riding. Hope he is ok today. Did I mention I used my Hardtail 29er. That bike was make for Grippis. It was fast, fast, fast. I was actually out of control on the "dips". But it was a thrill. Over all we had a great time. Might have been the best time we ever had down there. Many more trips to come, hopefully.

24 hr. Mt. Bike Race

  The Seven Springs 24 hr. mt. bike race is in the books and it was a fun, exciting and different experience. I was a little nervous going into the weekend because I wasn't sure what to expect since I never did a mt. bike race, never been to a mt. bike race, just really started mt. biking this year and rode the course at Seven Springs last week for the first time. The 24 hr mt. bike race is just what it implies, 24 hrs of non stop mt. bike racing on a 12 mile loop. There are quite a few catagories but we had teams in the expert (4 man), sport (4 man) and corporate (8 man).

Rock Star Bus

  Brian and I packed up the car and pulled out of my driveway at about 6:30 am sat. morning excited about the experience that awaited us starting at noon at the Seven Spring Resort. We got into this mess because the guys at Spokes n Skis needed some extra guys on their corporate team and we were stupid enough to say yes. We were suppose to meet the team in the camping area where the Rock Star bus was set up. the rock star bus is a motor home owned by the fiores and is the only way to camp. Richard Fiore was one of our teammates along with Anna, Andrea, Jason and Rob. Our team was there to have fun, but we had an expert team with Zac, Brian, David and Kevin that was there to compete and compete they did. They were in second place most of the race till late on Sunday morning and then dropped to 3rd and thats where they finished (podium). Our team finished 12th out of 16 teams and did 14 laps. Our 3rd team was a sport team which included Matt, Jason, Jeff and Martin and they finished 4th in their division.
  To start the race theres a half mile run which helps stagger the field so everybody isn't getting to the singletrack at one time. Rob was our leadoff and he was really good on the run he was actually the 2nd on the bike and had a really good ride his 1st lap was 1:29.  Me, B.,Andrea, Richard, Jason L. and Anna G. finished out the riding order. As I got on the bike the course starts with about 2 miles of very fast downhill which is not my forte and a wide sweeping left turn which I almost over cooked that turns into singletrack some of which is very technical both decending and climbing. The hardest part of the course is probably from mile 4 to mile 7 alot of climbing but thats where I was able to make up time and pass some people. The best part is from miles 7 to 10 theres alot of fast rollers that was just really fun to bomb. They saved the big rock garden till the end at mile 10.5 when your about wore out and then along climb to the lake and a flat ride around the lake to a short climb to the finish. All in all a pretty good course. I got to do 2 laps the 1st one at 1:30 PM and then the 2nd was at 2:00 AM, riding at night is so much different the woods is so quiet and peaceful except for the crickets singing and the quiet hush is overtaken with heavy breathing mt. bikers with super bright lights crashing the silent darkness. My night lap went very well I took my time and just enjoyed the woods. Once I was done riding my night lap I was going to lay done and sleep in the tent, but I was so stoked from the ride I couldn't sleep so I just stayed up. We packed everything early and when noon time came and the race was over we helped Richard pack up the Rock Star bus and then took off about 12:30.

    I'm glad I did the race and will probably do it again if ask, but now its time to get the trail shoes out and start doing some trail running, Hyner is right around the corner!!

I'm Back!

OK I know its been forever since I did a post and I do apologize. Just wanted to give a little update, B and I are doing a 24 hr. Mt.bike race at Seven Springs this weekend. This is definitely plowing new ground for us, so the last couple weeks we've trying to get into the woods as much as possible. We went and rode the course on sat. and oh what a course, we both thought it was kind of difficult. Not anything we haven't ridden but just didn't seem to flow well and can't seem to pinpoint why we thought that. I think its going to be an interesting weekend! So, to practice a little more we took a ride to Blue Knob tonight, what a beautiful evening and even better riding. The woods was so awesome with the sun shining through the trees like pillars of light making it hard to see the trails at times. Its a great time to be in the woods right now with the temp. cooling off and fall on the way so try and get out and enjoy! Will let you know how the weekend turns out. Please pray for us!!

NIGHT RIDER

Who remembers the show? I loved it.

Anyway J-man and I are taking his new super duty light to the Knob tonight. Hopefully we will have a lot to talk about tomorrow.

Ebensburg Homecoming Duathlon

Jamie, Adam and I went to Ebensburg to participate in the homecoming events (even though none of us are or were from Ebensburg). Jamie did the 5K and the Adam and I did the Duathlon. It was a beautiful day. Adam and I were feeling pretty good watching the 5K race. Then Jamie came in. He said it was super hot out there on the trail. So we had that to look forward to. I thought he ran well despite the heat. Ask him and probably wasn't thrilled but hey, it was a stone trail and it was HOT. Also he ended up taking a pie home, so not too shabby.

The Duathlon was a 2 mile run - 8 mile ride - 2 mile run. We did the run partly on the Rails to Trails and partly on the road. The bike was completely on the trail. I decided to use my Specialize. Locked out the front fork and I was good to go. I started out slow on the run, as I always do. Then when it came to the bike, I picked up some ground. I passed several people, which made me feel good. I wasn't racing anyone but when you pass someone, that is a good feeling. Then the fun part came, NOT! I hopped off the bike after 8 mileS and I could hardly feel my legs. I never had that happen that badly before. The last 2 mile run was a bear, for the most part. I made it thru though. I ended up with a time of 1 hr 10 minutes. I was the 14th male and 17th overall to finish. I was happy with that. I was also very happy because I won a pie. Yes a pie of my choice. Apple of course for me.

I had a awesome time and will definitely do it next year. Hopefully more people will join us. Are you in?

Too HOT to do anything

Temperatures are over the 100 degree mark, yesterday, today and tomorrow. I think I will take the day off. How about you?

Training

I woke up at 4:15 AM, strapped on my shorts, compression leg sleeves, reflective arm sleeves and ankle reflectors to prevent my being struck by a vehicle whilst running. Just so you know, because most people don't ever see 4 AM, it's still pretty dark, which was perfect! I hate heat, and after about 9 AM I can't really run comfortably for more than oh, say three yards. I have been training for my first marathon, which is coming up here on the 16th of October, and today was my long run. I've never run 18 consecutive miles prior to this morning. The longest actually was Hyner, and that was the first time I ever ran 16 miles consecutively. As it turns out, it was much much harder than I originally imagined. My route took me from the store through Duncansville, out past the Dream and onto Scotch Valley. From there, I jumped onto Brush Mountain, up Frankstown mountain and dropped down into Lakemont. Thankfully I took the route the way I did, because that is one heck of a drop from the top down into the valley! Up past the park and BCB, across 99 on the bridge, up the back way over to the Boulevard to Ruskin, 57th to 58th, where I missed Oak Ave. and tacked some mileage onto the course. I figured it out though and got back on track over to Mill Road. I don't remember that road having so many hills. It wasn't too rough until you got to the Altoona side of the Rt. 22 overpass and looked over at the hill that climbs to the buffalo farm. By then I was laughing at it and talking myself through the climb, which was actually much easier than the descent. For some reason, I do awful on downhills. I did scare some buffalo on my way past, but mostly they just stood there gawking at the idiot with matching bright green shoes, calf sleeves, arm sleeves and a green shirt. It was awesome, believe me. It was about the time I reached Burean (sp?) Baptist that I started to really feel it, so I made my way down Kuhn Ln. to 764 for the end of the... somewhere between 18 and 19 miles. I then walked/ran 764 down to the shop. Although not as brutal, I would say the effort today was on par with that I exerted on Hyner.

I had gotten a pair of calf sleeves from CEP yesterday and decided to try them out today, because the ones I received from Zensah did so well on my trail run this past week. They are not even comparable. I don't know if it's the size of my legs or what, but I literally could not get them off fast enough! So I would say if you are looking for a pair of sleeves but have larger legs, stick with Saucony or Zensah (at least they're better than CEP, in my own opinion.). Joel I imagine would do fine in a pair of CEPs. He weighs 45 ounces. If you grilled Joel, you would get the world's leanest, juiciest steak. I hear they are actually going to name a cut after him. This is mere rumor, but I could see it.

In summation, the run went well. I wish I would have had a better time, but the two route screw ups threw me off. 2.5 hours is fine for now! After it all, I went home, threw up, laid in the shower, laid in bed, then went to get some chocolate milk and a Panera bagel. So all in all: worth it. I am now a few steps closer to being ready for both the physical and mental aspects of what awaits in October! Now I will sit on my butt for the rest of the day and pray someone comes for shoes. Everyone enjoy your weekends and get out and do something!!

Change of Scenery

So B got me out onto his turf this morning... or more like off turf all together. Swimming to me has always been going in the pool and getting under water just to cool off, so actually trying to swim swim was a different experience. What was truly different though was seeing B in his speedo. Yeah... I have a long way to go, but I think that dabbling and getting in the okay-good range with a variety of different activities makes you better at your main focus and you get to be a well rounded athlete. Can we call ourselves that? This morning also made me realize the importance of weight training, so this week I gotta get back into the regiment. Running tends to make you a little more lean in the upper half than I like, but between marathon training, the store all day and Kel/friends at night it's hard to get anything else in.

I also tagged along with B and Joel on the road bike for the first time. I know now why they like it so much, it is nice to get out on the road and cover such a distance but still not be in a vehicle. Like Hemingway said, you truly appreciate the country for what it is when you experience it on a bicycle. So in the midst of wedding prep and the store, we still manage to stay outside! Not near as much as I would like, but you do what you can!! Now it's church time for those of us who aren't being heathen and going to watch a bicycle race instead of worshiping God...

Never Stop Exploring!!

Morning Runs are awesome

I have been running in the morning for the last 2 weeks. Adam has ran with me a few times. That has been fun. He starts out too fast, and I die after a few miles, but it has been fun. And making me push a little is a good thing. Morning running is great. Once you get awake, roll out of bed, get dressed and finally decide you are really going to run, it is great. Prior to gettting out the door, the thought of going back to bed runs thru my head 100 times, at least. Anyway, just get up and get out there and do it. If you need some encouragement or help, call Adam, he'll run with you. He might try to sell you shoes, but that is just par for the course.

Congrats on Fox Trot Runner by the way!!

Alone on the Mountain

To celebrate the first day of summer and the longest day of the year, I decided I would take to the hills and do a little riding. So I hit up the trails on Blue Knob to try and hone my technical riding skills, which ultimately always leads to me getting angry and hurting myself. It was beautiful though, enough mud to make it fun and hot enough to make it feel like a workout. I would have loved to had company, but I was left alone by my counterparts to fight off the bears and mountain lions by myself. Apparently a road bike is a necessity to be part of our merry band anymore, and running is a forsaken jaunt. Neither here nor there, the trails were fine and the humidity was glorious!

HAPPY FAHTER'S DAY

I got some neat gifts from my girls. I got some pj pants, an apron and grilling tool set, a coffee mug travel kit and a dust pan and brush. The dust pan and brush was picked out specifically by Charlie. She knows I like to clean up crumbs.

Happy Father's Day to all fathers that read our blog!

Nothing better than a morning Road Ride

We did a road ride today. I didn't keep track of the milege but it was probably 30 or so. Steve, Greg and Joel picked me up at my house. Well Joel did. The other two went to Sheetz for coffee. I would have had coffee too with them but figured I would end up making a few pit stops along the way. Which we ended up doing anyways. It was a great ride. The weather was perfect. My legs felt good. I think part of that was because I moved my right cleat on my shoe back some. Not sure if my foot shrunk or maybe the cleat moved over time, but it seem too far up on my foot. So I moved it two lines, and that seemed to be much better. The left shoe was fine. Thankfully nothing major happed good or bad. Like the other day J-man and I were riding and this other dude meant up with us in the loop up near Ken Wertz's place. We started down the hill and the other dude was in the lead and a cat ran across the road. He ran over the cat and skidded down the road on his head. Luckily he was ok after a few minutes and actually road home. So nothing like that happened today. I am starting to think J-man is a disaster to be around. He either crashes, or people crash around him. Just be warned if you decided to workout with the J-man.

Ode to Kaiah

For the best, kindest, stinkiest pup I have ever had the pleasure of caring for. You are missed deeply, my baby.

Seeing is believing

Band-aids my friend, band-aids!

Believe it

Told you so.

Shop News and So Forth

T'was the day before Wednesday and what to my extremely hot garage did arrive but eight boxes full of AWESOME SALOMON SHOES!!!! Being Sales Manager at your own running store has its advantages. Such as I sat and stared at three styles of shoes for about an hour until I decided which one to... ahem... uh, test? And the winner was the Crossmax! Not my original choice, but I have my reasons. I decided it was an awesome idea to take them for a spin on the six to ten this morning after being at the gym till 12:30 last night. Let's just say that the run itself was a little less than enjoyable. My body was slightly angry. Nevertheless! My feet were extremely happy. I decided to carry Salomon without any prior personal experience due to awesome reviews and testimonials I found while researching companies for the store. I'm not disappointed with the decision. You can tell just by looking at them the time and thought that was put into their design. We are carrying three styles for both men and women: Crossmax, Speedcross and XA Pro. All three are just nasty looking. The tread on the Speedcross (the racer of the series) is sick. No slipping and sliding at Hyner in July!! The Crossmax is a great, balanced shoe with slightly more heft and a little more tame tread, but still luggy (not a real word) enough to carry you through the mud and enough support to reduce ankle collapse and provide a larger landing base. The XA Pro is heftier still, but still very manageable. It is the support shoe, providing a large landing base and lots of, well, support. All three are amazingly comfortable!

Other good news, we are about set with Mizuno, and Brooks says he will be back with me by week's end. It honestly should not be too long; it had better not be, because for all intensive purposes I'm moving to Morgantown, WV to take a position with Mylan Pharmaceutical. Therefore, this shop needs to be up and operational by... two weeks from Monday. That's the goal. Prayers are accepted.

Now I'm taking care of some orders with our nutrition companies: Pacific Health Labs (Accelerade/Accelgel), Achiva and Tram Bars. Check them all out by googling or on facebook. Achiva is a very young company from Utah. Their product is mainly chia seeds and dehydrated coconut milk, and is marketed as a natural energy drink mix. I personally can tell a difference, and urge anyone to give it a try! Free samples can be obtained through their website.

It's National Running Day! So get our and celebrate accordingly! Also, today starts National Outdoors Month, and Saturday is National Trails Day. Again. Celebrate to your heart's content! I know I will be.

Get our there and enjoy yourself! Keep cool!!

By the way, for some good summer listening, check out The Decemberists. Specifically their The King is Dead album; it's very folk inspired and easy to listen to. Kel and I are headed to Md on the sixteenth to see them. Just a suggestion, hope you like them!! Also, Mumford and Sons. They're up there in my list of favorites. Somewhere near Cash and Sinatra.

I'm legal now

Yes, I am legal now. I got my US citizenship approved. I am a first generation Mexican American. No, that's not it. I got my temp stickers for my boat. I am ready to go now, anywhere.

An offer I can't refuse

So today is Memorial Day, and as I lay here trying not to sweat too much at 8:30 in the morning, I am beginning to regret signing up for a 5K up in Ebensburg. Neither here nor there, I hope that everyone has a great day with their families today, and don't forget the reason we all can enjoy a little R&R. So get out there and enjoy your freedom today!!

Oh, and B, I think I know a guy who can help you out with your kayaking situation. It's a real nice boat by the way!

My Coleman Rebel - Burnt Orange

Here is my new Kayak. I got it yesterday at Dick's Sporting Goods. I am sure it's not the top of the line but it will do. Someone said a Kayak is a Kayak for my purpose. So I figured this one will work. Now I just need someone to take me out and school me on the sport. Anyone interested in that?

I am very excited about this new sport and really can't wait to get out there. I am hoping some other guys that read this blog will invest in one too. If the one I have is suitable, they really aren't that much.

Tour De Cali or France or Tuna or "Loop"

The weather was beautiful out yesterday so instead of doing some outside work, like mowing and weeding, I decided to go for a road ride. I did about 25-30 miles in the later afternoon. I left my house, went out Burns Ave past US Foods. Then I cut over and went past Small Tube and thru Hollidaysburg to the BCO Mart intersection. I turned there and headed out past the shops and into the Loop. I road the whole way was to Locke Mt and then out past the soccer fields. I decided to go ahead and climb Chimney Rocks. Then I just back-tracked home. I felt really good and much stronger on the rolling hills and on the climb at Chimney Rocks. I think the Mt Biking and Trail running has improved my leg strength quite a bit. I do need more miles on the bike to get my cardio and heart rate where it needs to be. But the strength is better than I had anticipated. Still not enough to keep up to the J-man but I'll keep working on it. Overall it was a great ride and I am hoping to get out again today and tomorrow. Road riding makes me feel like I am a true cyclist. Even though I just mess around here and there, it makes me feel like a pro.

Rain - Rain - Rain

Hey, it's raining out, shouldn't we be doing something?

6 to 10 Trail Causes Headache to Worsen

Wow, that sounds like a newspaper headline. I could be a writer. Maybe not.

Anyway just thought I would let everyone know that I did about 6 miles on the 6-10 Trail yesterday after work. I had a really bad headache at work during the day and thought if I would run maybe it would get better. Well that was not a headache that gets better with exercise. I ran to the bridge at the top of the trail right before you come out onto Rt22. That was the halfway point and is where my head started to pound even more and I got sick. I made it down the hill, not pushing too hard. I finished there at the 3.5 marker on the gravel trail. I was glad I went but did learn next time to just go home and get rid of the headache before I exercise. It ended up being really bad and I spent most of the night in bed or on the couch hurting. But I feel better today and ready to go back out and do something. Or stay inside and do something that will help me when I am outside exercising. I might do Plyo tonight. Bring It!

A Digest of Sorts

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything, it has been pretty crazy around here these past few weeks! With school and graduation all finished up though, it gives me a lot more time to focus on the store, finding a career, and working on the wedding. So in all honesty nothing got any less busy.

Amidst everything though I've managed to stay busy outside as well. Joel, B and I have done a combination of great trail runs and some mountain biking. I've been doing some product testing as well with my Vibram Five Fingers, and just so you know they do not stand up to the jaws of an angry pitbull/boxer. I say angry not because Kaiah, my pup, is mean or anything, but because she gets mad when I leave to do something without her. For instance, I went up to Blue Knob for a run and by the time I came back this had happened. Needless to say, I'm not too happy.

Last weekend was also the Bloody Run Canoe Classic out in Everett, Pa. It's a 5mile/9 mile canoe/kayak race along the historic Juniata River. You can take in some of the river's natural beauty and enjoy a good competition, then head on over to Bullshead Tavern for some good food afterwards. I took second, mainly because the gent in front of me was using a sea kayak. I had no hope, my bulky Pelican was no match for his fiberglass, 17 foot beauty! I actually wanted second anyway though, because the prize was a sweet cooler! Holds a twelve pack, or so they say! So next year the store, REI and Everett are trying to partner to get together an adventure race consisting of a 5 mile bike, five mile run and paddle back to the start. As always, there's those of us trying to get others moving on the idea so I'll keep you updated with any developments.

Now I must go, my fiancée has planned a day for us as a graduation gift. I have no idea what we're going to be doing so I'm pretty excited. Till next time, get out and do something!!

Flip - anyone have a Band-Aid?

J-man and I went to grippis yesterday after he got off work. We got there around 4:00pm. The weather was awesome. It was a little cool, so we wore long sleeves, but the sun was out and it just felt good to get outside. We were about 20 minutes in to the ride when I flipped my bike. For the result of that flip, see that picture to the right. I am pretty black and blue this morning. I also have a big knot on my knee. That probably hurts the worse. Anyway after I flipped, I got back up and we continued on our ride. The trail was dry and really, really fast. That was the fastest trail I have been on yet. I guess since we started riding in the fall when all the leaves where down and then through the winter with the snow, we didn't get to ride the trail when it was that dry. We were flying. At some points, I was pretty much out of control, hence the flip. But man was it fun. Everything is turning green now and it is just a totally different place to ride than it appeared during the winter months. I can't wait to go back down. I wish Allegrippis was closer than 30 minutes away. I wish it was out my back door. But it's not. So we travel. Oh by the way there is a McDonald's close there in Huntingdon, so if you need a Sweet Tea after riding just stop by. Or if you need a "recovery" milk shake, just hit the Meadows there. I think that was my most enjoyable ride yet of my short mt biking career. I know I say that everytime we go out, but it was just great. I felt good too. That helped make it even more enjoyable. Must be the P90X plyo and the trail running that is adding some strength to my legs. That sure will help me when I am trying to keep up to the J-man. He is a beast in case you didn't know. He was talking about doing triples on his week off. What a crazy. I'll let him talk about that when the time comes. Sorry Adam you weren't there. Sorry to anyone else that reads this blog that was there yesterday. Aweseome, Awesome, Awesome.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there!

Got bit on the trail

I feel like Rocky!

It's a beautiful day in central Pa today and just like yesterday the trails were calling me, so I had to go. Blue Knob was the choice and Rockin Ridge was the trail. The woods were so inviting with everything starting to green up and the sound of the wind howling through the trees. I ran a couple loops of Rockin Ridge and was back to where I started so I decided to jump over to Crist trail and run up to Chappel trail. I ran up the steep part of Crist and started to level off and a root jumped up and grabbed my foot, so my face decided to headbutt a rock. The rock won as you can see by the picture I took when I got home. I stopped right away because I was bleeding like a stuck hog, I sat down for a couple minutes and used my shirt and applied pressure then turn around and walked out. Even with the mishap I had an awesome time, the eye is doing fine put some ice on it and a couple butterflies and now I look like Rocky! Yo Adrian! Just get out and enjoy the outdoors!

Muddy trails to you!

Today was another cloudy cool day and in the morning when I normally run, my motivation was none, so I decided I would just take the day off. This afternoon I was sitting around doing nothing but watching the grass grow and I heard the trails calling me, so I answered with a short 3.2 mile jaunt through the muddy trails by the high school. It was so enjoyable, mud up the back of the legs, sloshing through puddles like a kid and the fresh air of a cool spring day. Can never go wrong with a trail walk or run no matter the weather. Just get out and do it!

A cool Gadget!

Yesterday when I got up it looked like more rain, I stepped outside and the temperature was really nice so I debated on a bike ride or road run. With the look of rain I decided on a road run, haven't run on the road for a couple weeks so I thought I would do the Penn Farms loop. As I got dressed I put on a new piece of the uniform, it's a Nike+ sportsband and it is cool. Adam told me about it because I was looking for something to give me mileage and pace while running the trails. The most obvious choice is a GPS watch, but if you look at the price its not so obvious. The Nike+ uses a chip that you put in/on your shoe and then calibrate your run and walk stride with the watch. The cool thing about it is its like a flash drive you plug it into your computers USB port and it automatically downloads to the Nike website. The other thing it is pretty accurate, after calibration I ran the Y turkey trot course (5mile) and when I finished I was pretty much right on. Good enough for me! Plus it was half the price of the cheapest GPS and you don't have to worry about losing signal if your out on a trail run in a deep hollow. "I like it don't you?" The advertisements over back to the run! really not much to tell 7 miles at easy pace and sweating profusely. (Not like me) Running the road reminds me how much I do enjoy running the trails. When I run on the trails time flies by, but the road I'm just wanting it to be done. Get out and enjoy the outdoors! TODAY!!!

What a difference a year makes!

Check out the "Life is Good" shirt

  Last year this time I was laying in Lancaster General Hospital in Intensive care with a broken back (T-12)and 8 brand new titanium screws and 2 new titanium pins. My recovery went really well, had to wear a brace for 3 months and then a month of rehab then back to work I went on Aug. 30. At that point I was trying to ride the bike as much as possible so I could be ready to get back out and ride with the team come this spring. well riding the bike turned into Mt. biking and running and look at me now, just finish the Hyner a couple weeks ago and have been doing alot of trail running getting ready for another 10k trail run at Hyner in July. All I can say is Thanks everyone for your prayers and I thank the Lord for his watch care over me and healing power. 

Just a little mud!



  OK now for the weekend activities Adam, Brian and myself decided to hit the trails at Canoe Creek on Saturday, the weather was just beautiful and the mud was great. The trails were a blast with some good climbs and some technical descents and a trip around the lake we did 5.7 miles and would have stayed and done more but I had to get home to get ready for work. I thought about calling off and we could have done a few more miles and then picked up the mt. bikes and gone for a ride. I always hate going to work 2nd shift when the weather is soooo nice! oh well we have to eat! We decided we didn't get enough on sat. so we decided to get up early today and do it all again, so we did. At 6:30am Brian and I met at my place Adam 6:45am (fashionably late) and we headed to canoe creek again. The sky was looking like rain but that's just part of the great outdoors and rain always makes the experience that much more interesting. (like Hyner) We started our run and I was feeling pretty good so I started to push the pace to try get some good tempo work  and it was going good till my phone rang and I'm thinking why is the wife calling. Well it wasn't the wife it was Brian I never told him what trail we were running and we were in front of him so he wasn't sure then I told him to go another trail to try and meet us but I was confused and Brian was confused so Adam and I finally figured where he was going and after awhile we caught up to Brian. All in a days trail run (found a really good climb in the process) so it all worked out good. Guess what? it started to rain I know its hard to believe but it wouldn't be a trail run without rain, so we finished up the 6 mile run in the rain. What a great way to start the day!! Get out and check out the trails at Canoe Creek they're pretty good! Just do it!



Adam showing off the mud!



Brian finishing his run!











           

Still Feeling Every Mile

It's been four days since I stumbled across the finish line of Hyner, and I'm still nursing tight quads! I don't think Joel believed me when I told him, but that race was the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done. It was my own fault really, I had no idea what to expect or how to train. Being in Waynesburg, there are no trails to get out and run on, just lots of blacktop. That, and i thought that everyone was exaggerating just how tough the course was. I'm here to bear witness: THEY WEREN'T! The first climb, around 1400' of gain, was the worst but also the most rewarding in terms of awesome view of the valley. (I tried to get some video while on the trail, but mainly you see the ground and only really catch a glimpse of the view.) Where I really began to experience problems was about mile seven when I crossed the creek for the third of about 958 times and went in to my knees, soaking my feet which left them feeling like they weighed seven pounds each. I hooked up with two other guys and they sorta prodded me along for the next two miles until we reached the second climb, finally ascending out of the creek! A long line of us hiked to the top of the mountain, where we got to the third aid station. I choked down a banana and some juice and ran/waddled down the trail which led to about a mile and a half descent down a rather technical trail just wide enough for one runner. Problem was, the rocks were all the wrong size which were all kicked up from the 100 other people who ran ahead of me, so there was no real good footing. That plus the fact that one runner tackled me off the trail while passing (I was going pretty slow) made it pretty frustrating. I was glad to finally get off that little rock garden of a trail and climb up the trail to SOB, which honestly was probably the easiest climb of all! When we got to the top we were told that it was all down hill for the next four or so miles. Man I really want to go punch that group of guys right in the throat! Although the uphills were only slight for the next mile or so, they were still most definitely UP! The last two miles is where I hit the wall. It was all down which one would think would be easier, but my quads were perpetually cramped up, my ankles kept giving out on the rocks, and I had nothing left in me to provide any energy. After stopping a few times to dry heave and get out one particularly nasty cramp from climbing up over a tree root, we finally got to sweet, glorious pavement! I've never been so happy to pound pavement in my life! That is until we turned to cross back over the bridge and the 30-40 mph wind gusts hampered all forward motion. So I walked the last .5 or so until I got in sight of the finish line, where I started to slog, giving the illusion that I had indeed ran the whole time. (It didn't work, you could definitely see me walking up the last little hill.) I immediately crashed on a big wooden chair for a few minutes, before lying on a picnic table for a while, and then eventually finding Joel who was all but hypothermic by the time I got him the key to the car.

All in all it was one heck of a race. "This was stupid." is all I could muster to say when I got inside and collapsed on the floor infront of Joel. However, a massage and three hours of missing crossing paths with Brian, talking with fellow runners, put me in a different mindset, and I started thinking about training for next year's race. Stupidity is a slow learner.

The Hyner is more than a challenge

  Brian, Adam and I made the close to 2 hr. drive yesterday to Hyner Pennsylvania to tackle the Hyner Challenge. Hyner is about 20 miles north of Lock Haven on Rt. 120, and the challenge is a 16.3 mile run/hike through the area around Hyner. We decided we wanted to leave early so we could get there and pick up our packets and racing numbers, so a little before 5 AM we left from Brian's House. We got there and had our stuff by a little after 7:00 and  it was just starting to spit rain but the race didn't start till 8:30 . We sat in the car for a while because it was so cold and windy we didn't want to leave the warmth. I was just going to wear shorts but decided to wear my tights under my shorts. (Good choice) About 7:45 we decided to go to the start/finish line and the line for people getting their numbers was so long we knew the race wasn't going to start on time so there was a shed with the doors open and we took shelter there till the start. When everyone got their numbers and they were ready to start it was getting close to 9:00 and I was freezing my butt off.
  We all counted down the start of the race and bang we were off. The 1st mile is flat across the bridge and that's where the group started to thin out, I was told by somebody that ran it before to go pretty hard to be towards the front where it goes to singletrak so I did and it worked out good. The course goes into a narrow single track that takes you along the mountain with the river down below you on your right side. (Great view of the river) We ran along the river for maybe a mile and then a BIG sign said "Humble Hill" with an arrow pointing straight up this mountain. So I'm following a group of about 6-8 runners and we start up humble hill and some started to walk and I'm thinking why are they walking? After I passed a couple of them and got up the mountain a little bit I realized I was going to hard and was never going to be able to run up the mountain so I decided I would just do what the more experienced runners were doing, walking on the steep parts when they walked, and Running when they ran. Since this was my 1st trail run I really didn't know what to expect so it was a quick learning experience. The climb seem to go on and on and on and my calves were screaming by the time I got to the top, I think that climb is about 2 miles long. At this point I was still with 3 other runners and we started our decent to Reickert Hollow, they were much better descenders than I was but I hung on till we got to the water station at the bottom and then we started up again. I was going to hard again and had to back off cause I couldn't keep their pace so I just settled in to a pace that I was comfortable with. I thought the next section was really tough, (Johnson Run Hollow/climb) We were climbing up a hollow but we had to keep crossing back and forth over a fairly large creek, so when you ran through the water your shoes felt like they were 10 lbs. each and made that section very difficult. I struggled to the top following a guy that I caught up to earlier but he got away from me towards the top. I made up some time on the decent back into the hollow before the SOB climb, so now I was with 3 other guys to start the assent of the SOB by the time we got to the steep part of the climb there was only 3 of us left. We got to the top and at the water station the guy said its all down hill from here and I'm thinking thank goodness cause I was about done and still had along way to go. That definitely wasn't a true statement there is a false flat that seemed like went on forever. It was probably close to 2 miles and the trail was just a muddy mess with the rain coming down hard at times, made it more difficult. I finally got to the downhill and I started to recover a bit, at one point the trail hits a paved road for about 50 yrds and the guy there said 2 miles left so I continued to push on the downhill and I caught one of the guys that got away from me on the false flat about half way down. He let me around and I thought I better go as fast as I can down cause I know he is really strong on the flat and the last mile is flat across the bridge and a small kicker climb back to the start/finish line. I pushed as hard as I could and when I got on the bridge there was such a head wind and I was really struggling I thought I'm going to have to stop and walk a little bit but I turned around and I could see the guy behind gaining ground and I just dug deep and gutted it out. It was a very painful but exhilarating experience and you can bet I'll be back next year, Hopefully in better shape and more prepared. I was really happy with my time though, my goal was sub 3 hrs and I ran a 2:54:16. Hope this wasn't to long and boring but that was my race! If you like pain then you definitely do the Hyner cause it will kick you in the hyner. It kicked me in the Hyner!!!!

5 hours 37 minutes - WOW

I got Kicked in the Hyner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

15 hours and counting

I got my game hair on. I am ready for a Kick in the Hyner.

Bring it!!!

Countdown to Hyner



6-10 Trail



Adam and Brian write their blogs like English majors and I write like I need English majorly. I guess I'll throw in my 2 cents about the coming weekend. As Brian and I were running the 6-10 trail on Sunday we decided Hyner is definitely going to harder than what we were thinking back when we decided to sign up for it. I wish we would have found the 6-10 trail a couple months ago and could have done a few more treks up and down the trail. Once again if you never hiked or ran the 6-10 trail it is an awesome 6 mile jaunt from the bottom of cresson mountain up to below the Lemon House and back. The 1st mile is a wide grassy/packed gravel road and then turns into singletrack to the top which is about 2 more miles, there are some very steep parts but I think everyone would enjoy it. The trial is marked fairly well and after you do it a couple times it is easy to navigate. Now about Hyner my goal is the same as Adams, under 3 hours but we'll see how that shakes out on race day. The legs felt really good on Sunday and I did an light tempo run today and felt really good. I'm going to run easy the next 2 days then take Friday off. Get out and enjoy the outdoors!!!



Brian at the top of 6-10 Trail



    Hyner Here We Come!!!

Joel at top of 6-10 Trail



Rain, rain go away!

So, four days to zero hour! I'm psyched out of my mind for this race! The only thing I wish is that it were going to be a nice, sunny day instead of the 51 degree rainfest that is foretasted. However, should it be pouring like it is today, it will definitely make things much more interesting. Streams will be higher, hills will be muddier, times will be much slower, and the experience will be all the more sweeter. No matter what happens, it's going to be GREAT!

We haven't even finished our first truly crazy run and we are already planning our second! Today while procrastinating, I stumbled upon the Ragnar Relay: a 197 mile relay race which can be composed of 6 person or 12 person teams. Because, in my head at least, using twelve people to do that distance doesn't really make it as awesome as it could be, we are going to be doing the Ultra, which is the six person team. Check the site out here. Thirty three miles each really isn't much when you break it up into three legs. It's going to be fun! Gotta think of a team name though... BuckNakedRunners? The Crazies? Give us some ideas. ALSO, we need to provide three volunteers to help out at switch points and so forth so family members clear your schedules for the first weekend in October! I think this is fair warning.

Lastly before I have to do some work, I'll give you an update on the store. We are working on wrapping up all the last financial aspects, the building is going through some slight renovations to switch it over from a sandwich shop to a retail location and we will be painting very soon, and this past week I placed our order for Nathan Hydration and Altra Footwear. (If you check out Altra's website, we're officially one of their retailers... does that make us a real store??) I meet with Brooks on Friday, and we will see what happens from there. We're really getting down to the wire, so prayers are acceptable. The goal is middle of May, so I really hope to get the gears moving a little faster here in the next week!

So now I must apply myself and try to get some work done... or sleep, whichever comes first. Oh, and since Brian threw down the gauntlet, I will put myself out there too. Goal for Saturday is a sub three hour finishing time. The winner of my age group last year finished in 2:22, so we will see what I can pull off. I hope to get some pics and possibly some video from the race, so check back Sunday! Till then.

The last training session

Yes, the Hyner is 6 days away. Joel and I decided to get one last intense workout in before we begin to taper this week. We wanted Adam to join but he decided to run a race. We missed you buddy. Anyway, as I was running the 6 - 10 trail, reality set in. I am going to die. The 6 or 7 miles that we did about killed me. Not sure how I will make it 16.4. Somehow I'll dig deep and make it to the finish. My goal is under 4 hours. I know that was a bold move posting that here but I might as well be accountable for it. I'll let J-man and Adam post their goal times if they feel so inclined. Back to the run.....it was awesome. We ran from the Muleshoe up to the Lemon House and then back down. It was such a wonderful feeling when we popped out at the top of the mountain and could see the historic landmark around Rt 22 from us. I just kept thinking to myself, I just ran that mountain, WOW! We had a ton of fun as we always do. I must admit, I am not a runner but I could get into running much more if we keep hitting the trails.

6 - 10 Trail Run

J-man picked me up from work on Wednesday afternoon. The weather was nice. Probably about 50 degrees and the wind was calm. We decided to do the 6 - 10 Trail. Yes, the 6 to 10 Trail. If you don't know what the means, then shame on you. Anyone from Blair County should know why it is called the 6 to 10 trail. (Inside joke). Anyway, we had a great run. We did 6 miles in 1:00. I was happy with that time. We weren't going for time, we were just having fun. But I was happy with my effort in that hour. J-man was doing doubles yesterday. He already run hard in the morning and then ran a lot easier with me. It was great though. I enjoyed running with him and I enjoyed him helping to pace me some. The trail was soft and a little wet but was fun. We run to the top of the mountain. We didn't run the whole way to the Lemon House but we know we were close. We are planning on hitting that trail again on Sunday. We are training for the Hyner but we are also running it just for fun. Yes we have fun killing ourselves on trail. We're crazy - outdoor crazy!

Ken Brumbauge Race

Joel, Cory and Adam after the Ken Brumbaugh Race

The sun is shining there's a chill in the air its a perfect day for a race, not to hot that you dehydrate but not too cold that your lungs burn while you're running. We met at Brian's house to go up to the Park where the race was starting. We got there in time to warm up a little bit and then to the start line we went. The butterflies were flying around in the stomach but when the gun went off it was all business,' the nerves go away and the pain sets in. The first couple hundred yards I tried to get into a rhythm and get around some of the people up front. I noticed that there was about ten of us in the first group I thought if I could stay there I'd be in good shape. Through the turn around there was AJ Kelly way out in front one guy behind him and then three of us in a group we were working together pretty good. I felt pretty good until mile 3.5 and I kind of tightened up and the two that I was with gapped me. I fought back but didn't have anything left at the end. Oh well I'm happy with 5th overall and 1st in my age group. Adam got 1st in his age group.

Wellness Update - not well

I have been in pain for a few weeks. Crashed while mountain biking about 3 weeks ago or so, wellmaybe it was a month ago. I decided to go to that new Med Express place on the Blvd today because the pain was much worse than it had been. It was super nice. The people were great. I got taken in right away, had some X-rays, had them read and was out of there in 1 hour. That was Express, as compared to the hospital. (no offense to people that work at the hospital). Turns out that I cracked a few ribs. They are not broken and separated, just cracked. Dr said it will take 6-8 weeks to heal. He said no contact sports but he does recommend running or cycling. That will keep the lungs expanding fully and they won't collapse during my 6-8 week healing time. I guess you end up favoring your ribs and you lean to that side and it can affect your lungs becasue they don't get to expand fully. The dr offered some strong meds but I declined and said I'll keep doing Motrin. So that's the scoop. I decided not to workout today. I am hurting too much.

I will be at the race tomorrow though to see J-man, Adam and others participate. Good Luck to all runners tomorrow.

Pics from our ride the other day

Spring has Sprung

The 1st day of Spring was yesterday so the crazies decided to go out and do some mt. biking. Brian and Myself dressed like it was still cold out, Adam came in summer attire we kind of made fun of him but he was the one with the last laugh. We went to Glendale and did some of the trails there it was sooo beautiful around the lake and the weather turned out to be perfect, B and I had the sweat rolling of course Adam did too and he was dressed approiately. Can really tell its spring we had to do alot of trail maintenance along the way, lots of trees and limbs across the trails. I ended up with a stick in my rear derailler and screwed up my shifting so we kind of had to cut the ride a little short. We were having so much fun and enjoying the ride we really didn't get any pictures or video. We got a picture at the end when we got back to the car but we were not very good guides, we'll try better next time. Hope you are enjoying our Blog!

What do you think of the new look?

The Porcupine Sighting

Got a call from Bill Blyler (Big time mt. biker) on Friday and ask me to go to blue Knob mt. biking with him and his buddy Bugsey and his dog. We went on the resort side which is really rocky, and still had snow in some spots. We went out for about 3 hrs and did some trail maintenance along the way, a lot of fallen trees and limbs on the trails. Winter seems like its been going on forever so the warm temps and sunshine yesterday made for a perfect day. We were getting close to the end of the ride and we stopped for a minute and Bill looked up in a tree and said whats that in the tree so we walked a little closer and saw it was a porcupine just hanging out enjoying the sun. I really enjoyed myself and got some good bike handling skills on the rocks and a good cardio workout with trying to keep up with Bill and Bugsey. I didn't get any video cause I was just hangin on for dear life but I did get a picture of the porcupine in the tree. When I came home I wanted to get a run in so Adam and I did about 6 miles just for fun. Haha

What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday was so beautiful and as Brian already posted the run was great, today was a different story. We decided to do a little road ride this afternoon, it was chilly! We left from Brians house in Altoona and rode to Bellwood and back it wasn't bad but compared to yesterday I was glad to be done. I've really had enough of the cold and snow, I know its not over but I'll just have to endure till it is.
Just get out and enjoy!!

Saturday afternoon jaunt

J-man, Adam and I went for a little run on Saturday afternoon around 3:00pm. Nothing crazy about this one other than the weather was crazy nice. It was 60 degrees and sunny. It was great. We did 6.5 miles on a new course for us. That was fun.

Blue Knob here we come!

The Outdoor Crazies decided to go to Blue Knob mt. biking, we thought the snow would be gone, well there was still alot on some of the trails but that didn't deter us. We had a newbie with us, Cory, (my nephew) decided he want to enjoy the fresh air and get a little exercise with us. I think he really enjoyed himself becuase he was praying along side the trail thanking the lord for the beautiful scenery or maybe he just was trying to keep from puking! anyhow you can decide when you watch the video. Hope you enjoy!! maybe I'll get into more details later.

Riding....nope, Running instead

This is me before our 4 mile trail run.

This is Joel before our 4 mile trail run.

Here is The Outdoor Crazies new bike rack and new "beast". My dad and I spent most of Saturday morning adding a hitch and bike rack to the Jeep. Well we also drank some coffee and ate some donuts too. It all worked out and now we have a 4 bike swagman bike rack. Awesome!

J-man before our attempt to mt bike.

These pics were of our attempt to ride. We thought we would try the other section at Allegrippis. But that didn't work. Too slushy and slippery!

Runnin' outta our mine!

This past Saturday was my first race of the year: a very unique 5K run, held in a limestone mine that has been converted into a storage facility for boats and RVs, as well as for the storage and destruction of sensitive documents. No joke. The entire race was held inside the facility, with the finish line located just outside the entrance/ exit tunnel. It was a pretty cool experience, something you won't find pretty much anywhere else. I ran in my VFFs, thinking that the entire course was concrete, as was eluded to on the website. However, about 1/4 mile into the run, we hit shale that didn't stop until the last 1/4 mile. And when I say shale I don't mean nice little pieces like you get on your driveway, I'm talking fist size suckers laying around waiting to a) trip you b) DESTROY your heels or c) trip you. There were a few people who did wipe out, one guy got taken out by a trailer hitch, and a few others by the changing terrain and lack of light to see the holes and divots. Don't think I'm complaining about this, it was to be expected. For heaven's sake we were running in a mine. When I would mention this, most people thought we were nuts because all they pictured was Indiana Jones rolling along beside me in a little mine car. A few of the other runners were smart and wore headlamps which would have definitely helped in discerning the topography in a few areas. They keep the mine at a constant 55 degrees, which was great for us runners to get a break from the thirty degree temps outside! As you can see to the left, little Bobby Fox also ran the race. He has been doing extremely well, bring up his pace and decreasing his overall time. Although this race, due to the slightly more difficult terrain, was not a PR setter. All in all, it was a great run and a very unique experience, bruised feet and all. I somehow managed to sneak by third in my age group, and got a piece of the rock... which is actually an accurate representation of the size of rocks I was talking about earlier. So hopefully we can get a group to go down and run next year. The registration was cut off higher than they originally estimated, but still under 500 for the fact that too many people sucking wind in the mine doesn't leave much breathing room. Sorry I missed the bike ride, looks like it was a blast! Ready for this snow garbage to be over with, I need to get out on the bike again. Cooper's Rock anyone??

The Calm after the Storm

After an 8"-10" snowstorm last night the sun was shining bright, I thought it would be a great day for a trail run and the woods did not disappoint. The snow was a little deep so it turned out to be a really good workout, but the scenery was spectacular. The snow resting on the tree limbs and the quietness of the woods was so relaxing and inspiring that I did a few extra miles. (Just for good measure) If you really want to clear your head and relieve some stress take a long walk or jog or mt. bike ride in the snow. Its the best. Enjoy!! 

Mud and Fun!

With the snow melted and plenty of wind we made our way to Huntingdon County to check out the trails at Alligrippis and we were not disappointed there was just enough mud to make things interesting but not too much that it was hard riding. We rode 14 miles and had a blast, the legs were a little tired by the time we got back to the parking area but the fresh air cleared the mind and burned the lungs. So we had to replentish with a McDonalds sweet tea, OOh its soo good! We took some pictures and video so I put them together so you could see some of the fun we had. We missed Adam today because he had a running race out by Pittsburgh. Hope you enjoy!



Head Over Heels Down the Hill

Joel and I had a good time in the woods today mt. biking. We got some good pics and some video. I am sure J-man will be working on that and you'll see his handy work soon. I think we did 14 miles. We were out for 2.5 hours or so, maybe a little longer. We did stop to take some pics and to just take in the scenery. It was a little muddy but really not as bad as we had expected. I will say, we were dirty when we were done though. I only crashed one time but it was a good one. I was hitting dips and catch some air and on the 3rd or 4th dip I went airborne and landed off the trail. I went down on my right hip, slid about 6 ft or so then went head over heals down the hill a ways. I think I knocked the wind out of myself but after that cleared I was ok. I don't think Joel was on the ground at all today. He was a little more clean than I was. The wind was pretty nasty in the parking lot and when we would crest the mountain top but other than that it wasn't a factor for us. The coldest part of the day was at the car wash in Hollidaysburg. We stopped there on Blair St. to wash our bikes off. They definitely needed it. All and all our 5-6 hour adventure was tons of fun. As we rode home in J-man's Jeep we were planning our event for next week. We are hopping to get a few more guys to go with us. Adam, Cory, this means you.

ALLEGRIPPIS HERE WE COME!!!

J-man and I are heading to Raystown at 10:00am. I could hardly sleep last night I was so excited. I haven't been on the mountain bike since January. We are going to have a great time.

Adam where are you?

Awesome Ride (Part 2)

This time of year is really hard to get a good bike ride in, by the time you get home from work, walk the dog and get ready to ride its almost 4:00 PM and it gets dark at about 5:45 PM. Brian doesn't get home till later than I do so that even cuts the amount of daylight down even more, so what I did was rode up Sugar Run and came down Horseshoe Curve to get a little more riding time. WOW! It was a cold decent down the Curve, when I got to B's he was just finished getting ready. What timing! As we take off to climb Red Hill the sun was already down pretty far in the sky and we figured we only had about 45 minutes to an hour so we had to make the best of it. As we start up Red Hill there was quite alot of traffic so we rode single file and B was at the front doing the pace making and I felt like Andy Schleck following Jens Voigt up the Col du Tourmalet. Haha! so we get probably get a little over half was up and I decided to give B a break and go to the front and pace a bit well we we got close to the top and B surprised me and attacked so I jumped to follow his attack and my chain skipped a couple gears and I thought it was off the chain ring but it wasn't . I recovered but he had a pretty good gap opened up, which reminded me of a race I did back a few years ago in Indiana Pa. We started and it was flat for the first few miles and then came the first climb as everyone started to slow as the climb started up I tried to change to my small chain ring on the front, my chain jumped and snapped and my race was over. I rode home in the broom wagon. Bummer! Back to the ride, I did recover and got B at the top but that was a good attack!! The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful but it was just great to be on the bike and have the warm temps. Hope you are enjoying our Blog as much as we like reliving the crazy outdoor moments!!

Awesome Ride

J-man and I went for a 1 hour bike ride, well he did more but we rode for an hour together. I needed that ride today. It felt so good to get out there and ride. The wind in my face was great. We got up to about 45 mph coming down Rt 36 into Altoona. That was fun. The highlight of the ride though was my attack on Mill Run. Right near the top I hit it and was about 5-6 bike lengths in front of Joel. He pulled an Andy Schleck and was having trouble switching gears to catch up. I guess it was the long hair or something. Anyway after about 10 seconds he caught me and took off. But for those 10 seconds I was awesome. Then my moment was over and when I finally joined Joel at the top I felt like puking. I really miss riding outside like that. I am looking foward to spring and summer getting here. I wish our ride could have lasted longer by darkness was upon us and we had to rap it up. I don't have much more to say than AWESOME RIDE!

RIP Beast

R I P 02-14-2011

This is a very sad week for a lot of us here in central PA. We traded away "The Beast". Here is one of the earlier picture of it. I had it for many years and prior to that Joel owned the vehicle. We had a lot of good times with this thing. The last adventure was our attempt to ride at Rails to Trails. Your 4 wheel drive did us good that day. I will alway remember the way the radio would cut in and out. And how the headlights were so dim you never know if you had them on or not. I will also remember there when it was near the end when the heat would sometimes work and sometimes not. And at the very end when the heat was no more. Beast we will miss you. Hopefully you find a new owner that will fix you up and treat you right. More than likely you will be parted out but you will always remain as one in our eyes, The Outdoor Crazies.

Sad Day

Today is a sad day in the lives of the outdoor crazies! "The Beast" was finally decommissioned as the crazies main mode of transportation. 



 Long live "The Beast"



Now the good news!!! Sunny today. The sun was shining and the temps were in the 30's so I decided on a bike ride. It was a beautiful day with little wind so I thought I would put in a pretty good effort and see how the bike legs were. I haven't been riding much cause I've been spending most of my time running getting ready for the Hyner Challenge. Went out to the loop and climbed Chimney Rocks road so I was out a little over an hour and I felt really good. I think I'm going to miss racing more than I thought I would.

Me in the 2006 Tour deToona
The early Years!